Monday, May 14, 2012

Cautious...Puppy?

I'm kind of afraid to put this in words, but there is a chance we will be getting a puppy this summer.

Our plan had always been to get a second dog once we had moved into our own place. The time frame for that is...whenever we find a house that we can afford and isn't a ridiculous commute (we found one we liked, but it has the potential for 90 minute commutes for me, which I'd rather avoid!).

We hadn't planned on me having a job where I would be working from home for the summer. Basically, I'm working on a flexible schedule for company based on the west coast, and I can do all my work from my laptop--the ultimate in portability!

So, if we ever want to have a puppy and be around for all the housetraining, now is probably our best bet. In a lot of ways, it's a bit of a shock to be talking about this. I don't feel like I've mastered Jonah's training and I want to be able to continue to give him the time he deserves. I still want him to get his CATCH and ADCH, which means we have a lot of work ahead of us. I'd thought that if we at least had our CATCH before we got a puppy, I'd have a pretty good sense of a training plan for the new kid on the block.

I guess I'm realizing, though, that Jonah (and probably all dogs) will never be a 'finished product.' Or, there are at least lots of steps along the way. He had stopped contacts, and knew how to perform all the obstacles. Then I started teaching running contacts. He knows how to weave, but I'm wanting to challenge his independent entries. There's always more distance to work on. I'd like to speed up his teeter. We need to tighten our wraps. I want to be more fluid with threadle handling. We need to keep proofing our discriminations. Basically, we're not done!

But just because we get a puppy doesn't mean Jonah will be left in the dust.

Actually, I'd gone through a phase when I really thought we'd just stick with one dog. I feel like we give Jonah a good life, and I worry that he won't get as much attention when there's another dog. But then last week Romeo came to visit while his parents went out of town. Jonah was just SO HAPPY the whole time Romeo was here. He's a pretty happy guy all the time, but the visible improvement in his mood made me think, "If having another friend around makes him this happy, how could we not get a puppy?"

So, we've started looking. Part of the key to this project is that we want to get the puppy while I'm working at home. Our first choice breeder's litter isn't due until July, which means we'd miss out on my being around. At this point we're down to two breeders. One litter is already a few weeks old, and the other is due in the next week or so. We're going to meet the one litter the first week in June. Unfortunately the other is in Oregon. I'll keep you posted. It's an exciting time, and it seems like there's so much pressure. I know we'll love any dog we get, but I also want to be getting an athletic agility partner. Considering the fact that it's likely we won't be getting another dog for 10 years or so (and I really don't want to think about replacing Jonah), this is a big life decision for us!

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Jonah

Jonah is a 5 year old All-American who joined our family when he was about 18 months (June 2010). He was terrified of staplers, doorways, sticks, and men. We've learned agility together--first as a way to gain confidence, and now as a passion. He's steady and reliable, but struggles with reactivity and trial anxiety.

Nika

Nika, an English Shepherd, is the newest member of our family. She was born on April 14, 2012 and came to live with us at eight weeks. She is very bright, loves life to the fullest, and always keeps us on our toes! In agility, she has a lot of potential and we're learning to work as a team.